Celine Dion broke down in tears when her son made a surprise appearance at the Billboard Music Awards to present her with a prize.
The 48-year-old star was given a standing ovation as René-Charles, 15, appeared on stage with the Icon Award at the Las Vegas ceremony, where she made her first televised performance since the death of her husband René Angélil – who died from throat cancer in January aged 73 – and brother Daniel, who passed away days later.
An emotional Celine – who also has five-year-old twins Nelson and Eddy – told the crowd at the T-Mobile Arena: "I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for crying. I want to be so strong for my family and kids.
"I don’t want to cry in front of you,’ she then said to her son.
"Thank you very much. This is such a tremendous honour. Music has been my passion since before I can almost remember.
"[Rene will] continue to watch over me from up above."
Celine performed a rendition of René’s favourite song, Queen hit ‘The Show Must Go On’ at the ceremony and later admitted she was "proud" of her family for coping during such a difficult time.
She told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: "To try to perform that song without collapsing was big enough.
"And then I turned around and I saw my son. As a mother, I really, through this whole process of our new life, wanted to be strong.
"I thought I was going to make it through the whole night without tears and show strength, and love won.
"I just collapsed. I’m very thankful for the award and proud of my family so much."
Earlier this month, Celine revealed she "chased the truck" that came to take away her late husband because she couldn’t bear to let him ago.
She said: "When they [medics] took [his body] away, I chased the truck a little, like it was my kids going to school for the first day. It’s been a long, long journey. We were living in hope, knowing that there’s no hope."
Celine Dion’s Billboard tears
